Hey, Shakes...
I can never (or rather don't want to) get over the profound effect of the two itinerant sheepherders going up on Brokeback and coming down forever transformed...I see what you mean, though, anticipating that scenes we've only had glimpses of in trailers or promo shots, are likely to be included uncut in deleted footage, and I'm afraid they may somehow taint/tarnish our understanding of the original as intended by Ang Lee. I firmly believe the original movie is the Director's Cut. My greatest wish is for a director's commentary to essentially reassure us that so much of what we've analyzed to the n-th degree these past months was, at his level also intentional, much as Annie Proulx responded to Lee/Front-Ranger, that the parallels with classical Greek mythology were intentional, for those familiar with the allusions.
I think you're prob'ly right to anticipate more graphic/explanatory details of Jack's death...especially with clues of the three mechancs having individual credits. It's going to be hard to prepare ourselves for that. I've always been in the camp that Jack died at the hands of homophobics because he was careless after he lost hope of a future with Ennis. But there's always been some ambiguity, and I think you're right to think that if there is additional footage of the events leading to Jack's death, it will serve to close - or at least narrow - that space between what we want to believe and what we know. For me that space wasn't very wide , but I know that others viewed it differently.
If there is the 'rescue' of the hippies included, I look forward to it also. The reporting about Schamus favoring the scene to show Ennis and Jack, interacting with and helping travelers, I think is probably accurate. It's classic Greek mythology, again, that one of the greatest goods a man can perform is to be a good host to travelers - the sacred guest/host relationship.
Of course, this is sight unseen, and may never be seen, but I keep thinking that it's the late 60's early 70's...If Jack and Ennis were born somewhere else or raised just a little bit differently, they could have been freer to head west (presumeably like the hippies) and start a new life together in the counter-culture movement that was going on at the time. Obviously, that's not the story...but it's, in a way, evocative of the bus station scene where the cowboys in the black and white hats are buying tickets to somewhere, while Ennis eats his pie alone. Ennis is able to see what could have been with Jack...again if some circumstances were different.
I did not realize that you lost your sister so tragically - Please accept my condolences. It seems you have a great deal of experience in understanding the difference between what you want to believe, the story you are told, and some nebulous 'what you hope' happened, and for that I am truly sorry.
Love,
Lynne
--Edited for typos...Lynne